EU Carbon Border Levy Is a Growing Source of Tension for Ukraine
Kyiv government and country’s industry say steel exports to the bloc have already been sharply reduced/ By Nia Simeonova,/ The Wall Street Journal/ May 22, 2026 5:30 am ET/ European Commission data show Ukraine is the largest exporter of carbon border adjustment mechanism goods—mainly steel and cement—to the EU in volume terms. Photo: Dmytro Smolienko/Zuma Press/ In the fourth year since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine’s industrial heartland, Kyiv faces another challenge—this time from a partner: the European Union’s carbon border adjustment mechanism./ The levy, which the Ukrainian government and industry say has already sharply reduced steel exports to the bloc, is designed to narrow the carbon-cost gap between EU producers and foreign competitors. It puts a price on the embedded CO₂ emissions of imports in six sectors: cement, aluminum, fertilizers, iron and steel, hydrogen and electricity./ “CBAM and the war are not very compatible,” Ukrainian Economy Minister Oleksi...